In its battle to keep its developable property from the clutches of the Du Page County Forest Preserve Commission, West Chicago can`t really be blamed for seeking allies wherever it can find them.
But surely city officials couldn`t have expected too much support for their cause from Du Page County`s own Regional Planning Commission.
Since the forest preserve announced in 1987 that it had targeted at least 350 West Chicago acres for preservation, city officials have pleaded with the commissioners to at least allow commercial development on the north side of North Avenue, west of Illinois Highway 59.
And last fall, city officials actually hired the county`s Planning Commission to put together a land-use plan for the area that they somehow hoped would support their pro-development scenario.
Well, guess what.
The commission recently released a preliminary land-use plan that conforms oh-so-closely to the Forest Preserve Commission`s vision for the West Chicago property. In short, it states that most of the land is too environmentally sensitive for development.
So the irate West Chicago City Council voted unanimously last week to break its $8,000 contract with the Planning Commission, and pay only for the preliminary work done thus far.
At this point, neither the city nor the commission is sure just how much payment will be.
But at least West Chicago is finally sure of one thing. ”We felt the planning commission could look at the interest of the city as well as the interest of other agencies,” said city spokesman Paul Tague. ”Now it`s clear that their direction is really at odds with ours.”
York pudding
The political pot is really boiling in York Township, where, as County Clerk Gary King puts it, ”many, many, many” Republican precinct committeemen seem anxious to oust GOP township chairman Gerald Marchese.
King, whom GOPers say is as even-keeled as Marchese is mercurial, is running unopposed for the county clerk nomination in the GOP`s March primary. But that may not be his only race.
Although King isn`t looking to take on the incumbent Marchese, he concedes, ”There seem to be a lot of people who are disheartened and want all of the fighting and stuff stopped. We`ll just have to see. If enough of them think that I could straighten things out, and help out, I might just do it.” Just how many are the ”many” will be clear March 30, when the York organization takes a vote on the outspoken Marchese`s future.
Seeing double
The more things change, they say, the more they stay the same.
And more than ever, the above truism seems to describe perfectly the relationship between Naperville and Joe Jackson.
Napervillians know Jackson all too well.
He`s the erstwhile chief of the Naperville Electric Department who quit in January, then resurfaced two weeks later holding a plum position with the consulting firm hired to steer the headless department.
Well, the new, improved, private-sector Jackson submitted his first ”bid evaluation and recommendation” to the City Council this week.
And it looked exactly like all the previous recommendations Jackson has submitted, save one very important difference.
It was printed on the stationery of R.W. Beck and Associates, which has a $62,857 contract for four months of consulting work with the city. That figure includes a fee of $51,782 to Jackson, who had been earning $65,000 a year in his Naperville post.
The very familiar looking recommendation rubbed at least one councilman the wrong way.
J. Glenn Schneider, obviously irked that the council is paying so much more for the same work, looked at the recommendation and quipped, ”Are we low on paper?”
Be there or else
Brace yourself for inspiration.
Jayne Lybrand, a ”motivational speaker,” will lecture at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the College of Du Page Arts Center Theatre II.
Described as a ”female Leo Buscaglia” (”He gives those `you`re somebody` types of speeches,” says college spokesman Ken Reed), Lybrand will demonstrate ”22 ways to intimidate someone, 18 gestures that will make a person look sincere and honest, 13 ways to detect devious behavior, 28 signals to tell if someone is lying and 10 techniques for overcoming nervousness.”
